The word Havyaka was transcended from words Havyaga or Haveega which means the one who performs Havana (Havya) and Homa (Gavya), since the very purpose of Havyaka Brahmins was to perform the royal rituals and the related functions of the empirical government. In ancient times the region of today's Uttara Kannada between Konkan in the north & Tuluva in the south was known by the name of Haiva. This could be the possible source of the term 'Haiga' as Havyakas are also referred to. In fact, the name "Haiga" persists in Havyaka lexicon.

The word Havyaka might also be derived from the place named Haigunda. That region of Karnataka which has been inhabited by Havyakas from ancient times is also called Parashuramakshethra, Gorastradesha, Gokarnamandala.[3]

Historically, it is proven that Havyakas Brahmins were invited and brought to present day Karnataka around the end of 3rd century ACE or beginning of 4th century ACE from a place called Ahicchatra.[4] Other sects like Shivalli, Smartha etc., are believed to have arrived later around 7th century ACE.[5] The Brahmin king Mayooravarma was instrumental in bringing the first Havyaka families. It is proven through Talagunda and Varadahalli inscriptions that Kadambas brought 32 Havyaka families in to perform the royal rituals and the related functions of the empirical government from a place called Ahichchathra in the state of Uttar Pradesh. There is a suggestion that this is somewhere in the Nainital district of Uttarakhand. However, the archeological site of Ahicchatra lies in the district Bareily UP. Thus the first few families were settled in Haigunda (a small island in Sharavati river, Honavar taluk, Uttara Kannada district, Karnataka)and also in Banavasi, the capital of the Kadambas and the place adored by Pampa.[6] Because there were vedic Brahmins in the Dravida country as attested by Skaandha and other Puranas also because Havyakas are a subsect of Pancha Dravida Brahmins, Vidwan Timmappa Kalasi hypothesizes that Havyakas are the descendants of Brahmins who left Dravida country during the acscent of Jaina tradition and support for vedic traditions waned in the south during 3rd century BCE to 3rd century ACE. King Mayooravarma's act of inviting Havyakas to Banavasi has been inscribed on a stone slab (Shilashasana) from the period of the Kadambas, which now lies near the village of Varadahalli in Sagar Taluk of Shimoga district. However, Eminent historian D R Bhandarkar includes castes like Bhojaka, Chitpavan, Havyaka, Karhade, Nagar Brahmins, as of partly foreign origin.,[citation needed]

The Havyakas are united by their unique language. They speak a dialect of Kannada known as Havigannada (Havyaka+Kannada). It is 60-70% similar to mainstream Kannada but draws more words from ancient Kannada. However, most mainstream Kannada speakers find it difficult to understand Havyaka Kannada. The Havyaka dialect is supposed to be quite old. Its origins, like many other things in India, are shrouded in mystery. Notably certain Havigannada speakers from Dakshina Kannada (Panja side) and Uttara Kannada district, uses neutral gender in place of feminine gender while addressing females. This fact can be correlated to north Indian languages which lack neutral gender and restricted to masculine or feminine genders while most of Dravidian languages use words with Masculine, feminine and neutral genders. The similarity of Havigannada words with Tamil, Malayalam and old Kannada and variability of the gender usage with respect to the major Dravidian languages help the hypothesis that Havyaka Brahmins migrated to the region during the Proto-Dravidian languages and Havigannada was developed with the prevailing languages with North-Indian influence. But Havyaks in certain part of Karnataka, like Kundapura, Thirthahalli and Kodagu do not speak Havigannada.

Havyakas are the subsect of the Brahmin caste of Hinduism, followers of Sri Adi Shankaracharya's Advaitha philosophy. Most Havyakas are Yajurvedi Brahmins and follow the Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra.Some are Samavedi's and Few Havyakas follow Rigveda which is the oldest in vedas e.g., Vaidyas.

As Havyakas gained population in Karnataka they became influential in politics and also cultivated fine arts. The Yakshagana folk theatre has been exclusively developed by Havyakas.[12] Music, dance and writing became very attractive to Havyakas. Karki Yakshagana group which toured Maharashtra in the mid-19th century has the credit of inspiring Marathi theatre. In 1842, Karki Mela (group) performed before the Rajasaheb of Sangli (Maharashtra State), who encouraged court artists to learn from the group acting and singing. This laid basis for Marathi Professional theatre.

The first social play in Kannada was written by Suri Venkataramana Shastri in 1887. The play titled Iggappa Hegade Vivaha Prahasana deals with child marriage and evils of incompatibility. The play has been recently translated into English with an introduction by Prof. Narayan Hegde and published by the Sahitya Akademi (New Delhi) in the journal, Indian Literature (No. 268, March/April 2012). There have been a good number of writers, singers, teachers, doctors, industrialists, scientists, engineers and executives from Havyaka community.

Havyakas are traditionally lacto-vegetarian in their diet, and their cuisine consists of some unique food items including Tellavu (a light type of dosa), Todedev (a wafer-thin sweet preparation), Melara, Balehannu Shavige (A vermicelli preparation using banana), Odappe, Holige, Appehuli, Gensle (sweet which is baked in turmeric/masala leaf), Halasinakayi huli (very popular in Kalache-Yellapur region of Uttarakannada district), various types of Thambli (buttermilk/yoghurt-based rice accompaniment) including Korskayi Tambli, various types of Gojju (gravy) including Kocheegayi Gojju,Korskayi Gojju,Kai Gojju,Kadle Gojju (famous in Sagara prantya), etc.[14] Other commonly prepared items include Hagalkai Hashi (a type of salad made from bitter gourd), Kai Rasaa, Karkli, patrode, famous Soppina Tambli-Swarle-kudi, various leaf-based preparations such as Honegone Soppu, Vidangada Soppu, Vasange Soppu, Yelgurge kudi/soppu, Sorle kudi/soppu, Kanchi-soppu and Choand Gte-soppu, Kajale-palya, Huli, Sasame made of mango and Kannekudi katne. Many items are prepared using jack-fruit such as sweet pappads, several types of Thamblis and a variety of Chatni pudis, Sandige and Happala which can be preserved for a long time . They are also known for their preparations of banana Halwa, Berati of jack-fruit and Halasina Hannina Kadubu. "Holige" is the most popular sweet among havyakas in Mangalore / Kasaragod Belt. No Havyaka marriage is complete without Holige. Havyakas have a unique food system which has intrinsic medicinal values. Some of the ingredients used in food items include wild leaves, roots/herbs and barks of trees, among others. Havyakas typically lived in villages where abundant sources of these were readily available around them, from where they were directly extracted and processed fresh.